High resolution flat crystal spectrometer for the Shanghai EBIT

We report on a high resolution flat crystal spectrometer designed for the Shanghai EBIT. Its energy range is from 0.5 to 10 keV. Three crystals can be installed in the vacuum chamber simultaneously, and its effective Bragg angle can be covered from 15 degrees to 75 degrees . A vacuum version charge-coupled device detector is used for detection of photons. An energy resolution under 1 eV was reached in measurements of the 4.5 keV Kalpha(1) line by using an x-ray generator with a titanium anode. The spectrometer was also tested to operate well on the Shanghai EBIT by observing the lines of tungsten at around 3.2 keV.

Synchronization phenomena in mixed media of passive, excitable, and oscillatory cells

We study collective phenomena in highly heterogeneous cardiac cell culture and its models. A cardiac culture is a mixture of passive (fibroblasts), oscillatory (pacemakers), and excitable (myocytes) cells. There is also heterogeneity within each type of cell as well. Results of in vitro experiments are modelled by Luo-Rudy and FitzHugh-Nagumo systems. For oscillatory and excitable media, we focus on the transitions from fully incoherent behavior to partially coherent behavior and then to global synchronization as the coupling strength is increased. These regimes are characterized qualitatively by spatiotemporal diagrams and quantitatively by profiles of dependence of individual frequencies on coupling. We find that synchronization clusters are determined by concentric and spiral waves. These waves arising due to the heterogeneity of medium push covered cells to oscillate in synchrony. We are also interested in the influence of passive and excitable elements on the oscillatory characteristics of low- and high-dimensional ensembles of cardiac cells. The mixture of initially silent excitable and passive cells shows the transitions to oscillatory behavior. In the media of oscillatory and passive or excitable cells, the effect of oscillation death is observed.

In vitro enhancing effects of thymic dendritic cells on apoptotic cell death of thymocytes

Using terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and propidium iodide-DNA staining flow cytometry assay, the effects of mouse thymic dendritic cells (MTSC4) on the process of programmed cell death of thymocytes in vitro were investigated. It was noticed that thymocytes bound to MTSC4 used in this study. That the percentages of apoptotic nuclei of the bound thymocytes on MTSC4 were much higher than those of medium-cultured thymocytes, while the bound thymocytes on mouse thymic epithelial cell (MTEC1) showed much lower percentages of apoptosis. FACS analysis quantitatively confirmed the observation. Phenotype analysis showed that MTSC4 induced the deletion of CD4 + CD8 + cells and CD4 + CD8-.cells in 18 h of coculture. The results suggest that the negative selection of medullary thymocytes may be achieved by thymic dendritic cells through their enhancing effects on apoptosis.

Membrane molecules in induction of apoptosis of thymocytes by mouse thymic dendritic cells which express Fas ligands

Apoptosis of thymocytes is involved in the negative selection of thymus, but it remains unclear how the cell death of thymocytes is regulated by the thymic stromal cells. By using immunohistochemistry, TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and flow cytometry methods, it was found that Fas ligand was expressed in the thymic medulla and a mouse thymic medullary type dendritic cell line (MTSC4). The DNA fragmentation and TUNEL positive staining of thymocytes were detected in 6 h of cocultures with MTSC4. 97 % of the thymocytes which bound to MTSC4 were Fas antigen positive cells. The DNA fragmentation of thymocytes induced by MTSC4 was inhibited by the addition of 20 mmol/L N-acetyl galactosamin monosaccharide and the pretreatment of a monoclonal antibody (PF-18-3) which recognized a putative antigen on MTSC4. These results suggested that the mechanisms of induction of cell death by stromal cells may include the interactions of multiple cell surface molecules, in addition to the Fas/Fas ligand system.

High frequency of submicroscopic genomic aberrations detected by tiling path array comparative genome hybridisation in patients with isolated congenital heart disease

BACKGROUND

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect and affects nearly 1% of newborns. The aetiology of CHD is largely unknown and only a small percentage can be assigned to environmental risk factors such as maternal diseases or exposure to mutagenic agents during pregnancy. Chromosomal imbalances have been identified in many forms of syndromic CHD, but very little is known about the impact of DNA copy number changes in non-syndromic CHD.

METHOD

A sub-megabase resolution array comparative genome hybridisation (CGH) screen was carried out on 105 patients with CHD as the sole abnormality at the time of diagnosis.

RESULTS

There were 18 chromosomal changes detected, which do not coincide with common DNA copy number variants, including one de novo deletion, two de novo duplications and eight familial copy number variations (one deletion and seven duplications).

CONCLUSIONS

Our data show that submicroscopic deletions and duplications play an important role in the aetiology of this condition, either as direct causes or as genetic risk factors for CHD. These findings have immediate consequences for genetic counselling and should pave the way for the elucidation of the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying CHD.

Interaction of G-protein beta3 subunit and nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphisms on carotid artery intima-media thickness in young adults: the Bogalusa Heart Study

BACKGROUND

G-protein beta3 subunit (GNB3) gene C825T and endothelial nitric oxide (eNOS) gene G894T polymorphisms both influence arterial structure and function. However, information is scant regarding the interaction of these genes on arterial wall thickness.

METHODS

This aspect was examined in 654 white and black subjects, aged 25-43 years (72.9% white, 39.3% male). Arterial wall thickness was assessed in terms of the average intima-media thickness (IMT) of common carotid, internal carotid, and carotid bulb segments by B-mode ultrasonography.

RESULTS

Frequencies of T allele of the GNB3 C825T polymorphism (0.718 vs. 0.304, P < 0.0001) and G allele of the eNOS G894T polymorphism (0.868 vs. 0.661, P < 0.0001) were higher in blacks compared to whites. In a multivariate model including gender, age, mean arterial pressure, body mass index, triglycerides/HDL cholesterol ratio, insulin resistance index, smoking, and/or race, there was no significant genotypic effect on carotid IMT with respect to GNB3 C825T or eNOS G894T polymorphisms among whites, blacks, and total sample. However, the carriers of TT genotype of the GNB3 C825T and T allele of the eNOS G894T had a significantly lower carotid IMT among blacks (P = 0.003) and the total sample (P = 0.006).

CONCLUSION

These results indicate that the genetic variations of the eNOS gene in combination with the GNB3 gene jointly influence carotid artery wall thickening process in young adults, especially in blacks.

HOX expression patterns identify a common signature for favorable AML

Deregulated HOX expression, by chromosomal translocations and myeloid-lymphoid leukemia (MLL) rearrangements, is causal in some types of leukemia. Using real-time reverse transcription-PCR, we examined the expression of 43 clustered HOX, polycomb, MLL and FLT3 genes in 119 newly diagnosed adult acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) selected from all major cytogenetic groups. Downregulated HOX expression was a consistent feature of favorable AMLs and, among these cases, inv(16) cases had a distinct expression profile. Using a 17-gene predictor in 44 additional samples, we observed a 94.7% specificity for classifying favorable vs intermediate/unfavorable cytogenetic groups. Among other AMLs, HOX overexpression was associated with nucleophosmin (NPM) mutations and we also identified a phenotypically similar subset with wt-NPM. In many unfavorable and other intermediate cytogenetic AMLs, HOX levels resembled those in normal CD34+ cells, except that the homogeneity characteristic of normal samples was not present. We also observed that HOXA9 levels were significantly inversely correlated with survival and that BMI-1 was overexpressed in cases with 11q23 rearrangements, suggesting that p19(ARF) suppression may be involved in MLL-associated leukemia. These results underscore the close relationship between HOX expression patterns and certain forms of AML and emphasize the need to determine whether these differences play a role in the disease process.

Adherence of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans via serotype-specific polysaccharide antigens in lipopolysaccharides

INTRODUCTION

Gram-negative Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is recognized as an important periodontal pathogen. A striking property of this bacterium is its ability to form a tenacious biofilm adhering to abiotic surfaces. Both fimbrial and non-fimbrial adhesins are believed to be responsible for this ability. In our study, specific markerless mutants in the biosynthesis genes of cell surface polysaccharides were constructed with the Cre-loxP recombination system to identify non-fimbrial adhesin(s).

METHODS

Non-fimbriated A. actinomycetemcomitans strain ATCC29523 (serotype a) was used to construct a deletion mutant of serotype-a specific polysaccharide antigen (SPA-a) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The LPS was purified through a polymyxin B column following phenol extraction, and verified by silver staining following sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by immunoblot analysis using rabbit antisera raised against SPA-a. Strains were grown in broth for 2 days and examined for the adherence of bacterial cells on the glass surface.

RESULTS

Strain ATCC29523 formed a thin film of bacterial growth on the glass surface. The deletion of SPA-a affected its ability to form this thin film. When this mutant was rescued with the wild-type SPA-a gene cluster, its adherence-positive phenotype was restored.

CONCLUSION

SPA-a in the LPS molecule appears to promote the adherence of A. actinomycetemcomitans cells to abiotic surfaces.

A high-density SNP linkage scan with 142 combined subtype ADHD sib pairs identifies linkage regions on chromosomes 9 and 16

As part of the International Multi-centre ADHD Genetics project we completed an affected sibling pair study of 142 narrowly defined Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition combined type attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) proband-sibling pairs. No linkage was observed on the most established ADHD-linked genomic regions of 5p and 17p. We found suggestive linkage signals on chromosomes 9 and 16, respectively, with the highest multipoint nonparametric linkage signal on chromosome 16q23 at 99 cM (log of the odds, LOD=3.1) overlapping data published from the previous UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) (LOD>1, approximately 95 cM) and Dutch (LOD>1, approximately 100 cM) studies. The second highest peak in this study was on chromosome 9q22 at 90 cM (LOD=2.13); both the previous UCLA and German studies also found some evidence of linkage at almost the same location (UCLA LOD=1.45 at 93 cM; German LOD=0.68 at 100 cM). The overlap of these two main peaks with previous findings suggests that loci linked to ADHD may lie within these regions. Meta-analysis or reanalysis of the raw data of all the available ADHD linkage scan data may help to clarify whether these represent true linked loci.